


it's quiet uptown

by brandflakeeee



Category: A Series of Unfortunate Events (TV), A Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 04:39:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17277221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandflakeeee/pseuds/brandflakeeee
Summary: there is suffering too terrible to name.





	it's quiet uptown

The garden becomes her sanctuary. 

It's soft and silent except the tiny creatures that venture out in the night to make their music. She hardly notices; she doesn't notice much beyond her own skin and that's on the good days. On the bad - well, she prefers not to think of them. They overwhelm her until she is choking with guilt and tears and so much sadness she thinks she might suffocate. Some days she wishes she would.

There's a book of poetry open on her lap but it goes unread. Instead her fingers rub the purple silk ribbon that marks the page, the fibers worn from such a movement over a long period of time. She forces herself to stop; she fears she might destroy it if she continues. She shuts the book, pressing the frail ribbon between it's pages for protection. Her tears stain the cover not a moment later.

Beatrice wishes it could have been her instead.

It's her fault. She's lost everything that mattered in this life because of her secrets, her own naive beliefs. The guilt crashes over her, gripping her by the lungs with iron hands until she can't breathe for the sheer force. 

A literal hand takes up her own, and its mate wraps around her shoulders, dragging her into their embrace. 

Bertrand pulls his wife against his chest, burying his face in her hair as she cries. His tears are softer, but no less hurtful. 

Bertrand wishes it could have been him instead. 

It's his fault. He's lost everything that mattered because they hadn't been careful enough. Because they'd been foolish to think they could protect them from the world. Now the three brilliant minds he'd loved with ever fibre of his being would never flourish again. 

Beatrice sobs against her husband's shoulder. No parent should have to outlive their children. Bertrand hides his face in his wife's hair, the pair holding each other so tightly they might have meshed into one. The garden around them is still filled with white noise, offering a shelter of sound from the world beyond. 

The world is  _too_ quiet, and it will never be the same. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hate myself for even considering this as a possibility. 
> 
> In case you didn't realise, it's the notion Beatrice and Bertrand survive the fire, but their children do not.


End file.
